All It Takes
by Just Canceled
Summary: LWD It’s Casey’s 16th birthday, and Derek has a surprise present in store! Dasey!
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: All It Takes

**Series**: Life with Derek

**Summary**: (LWD) ONESHOT: It's Casey's 16th birthday, and Derek has a surprise present in store! Dasey!

**Chapters**: 3

**Rating**: T (Language)

**Words**: Story: 709, Total: 821

**A/N**: I was lighting my incense (the smoke of which hypnotizes me and I do my best writing), and my new earrings brushed my face. So the idea kind of came from that. Don't ask how, since I can't answer it. If you want to know why I chose their birthdays, look into astrology (BTW: CaseyTaurus/DerekScorpio). If I got the age wrong, please forgive me and let me know, and I'll correct it. Thanks.

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Casey sat on the couch in the living room, casually flipping channels, nothing good was on. She was more or less passing time until her 16th birthday party would start. It didn't even seem like a birthday. It was the middle of May, May 13th to be exact, and it was raining, heavy drumming rain that made the day good for staying inside and sleeping. She hated this, this patient sitting still, waiting.

And yet she waited, waited for her mom to finish baking the cake. Waited for George and the kids to finish wrapping presents. Waited for Emily and Sam to get here. Waited for Derek to do…whatever it is Derek does.

Derek had already had his birthday party, his birthday being November 6th. She had gotten him a gift card to his favorite store, since he was notoriously hard to buy for. Then he had to gloat, being six months older than her. Stupid Derek with his messy hair and piercing eyes. The way he could be completely nice to her one second and entirely evil the next. It wasn't fair. He almost always won the fights, and Casey hated to lose.

Casey wondered what he had gotten her for her birthday, as she climbed the stairs to go to her room and get ready for _her_ party. Hopefully his present wouldn't be stupid or a gag gift, and ruin her party even more then the rain had.

Casey dressed carefully, a nice white blouse with a tan knee-length skirt, not too 'come hither' and not too 'librarian'. She carefully brushed her hair, then tied it up, and then let it down. She decided to leave it down, it was prettier that way. Coming back downstairs she saw Derek sitting on the couch, where she had been, flipping channels. She sat down next to him and sighed.

"What's with you?" He asked, surly. She looked over at him.

"It rained on my birthday, is that not a sign to you? Something is going to happen today."

"Well, you never know. It doesn't have to be a bad thing." His gruff voice replaced by one of vague but ever present secrets. He stood up, leaving her behind to contemplate the meanings behind his words.

Casey just absently flipped through the channels, landing, briefly, on MARV! a daytime talk show.

"Today's topic is: Love within the family. First up is Julie who is in love with…her step brother, Daren. Julie, tell us how did you…"

The channel got changed pretty quickly, and as she flipped to a few more channels with nothing on, the entire T.V. was turned off.

Casey groaned as she went into the kitchen, running right into Derek's back, knocking him forward, but fortunately not in to anything. He spun around quickly, pouncing on her Klutzilla status.

"Do you have to insult me on my birthday?" She asked. Apparently that made him remember something, seeing how he rushed off. "What's with him?" She asked the kitchen. No one knew a thing.

A few hours later Casey was once again standing in the kitchen, blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. After cake and small talk, everyone gathered in the living room so Casey could open her presents.

Emily had given her a copy of "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman.

Sam had given her a nice journal, green with leaf indentations.

Her mother (and George) had given her a few new shirts that she had asked for.

Lizzie had given her a bookstore gift certificate.

Edwin had given her a card with money.

Marti had given her a hand drawn card full of adorable mis-spellings.

That left Derek. She was secretly dreading and anticipating his gift, he had been so secretive about it.

Finally Derek handed her a card with a brief note inside.

'I got you a present. You can get it after the party. Love, Derek.'

The 'Love, Derek' part had shocked her. He never told anyone in the family he loved them, not even Marti. Something was definitely up. She reread the note and looked up to find him staring at her. She simply nodded as she read the preprinted card message.

'Happy Birthday, wishing you all the happiness in the world.'

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Words: Story: 765, Total: 773

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After cake and presents, there wasn't much time left, as it had already gotten dark and it was still raining heavily. Sam and Emily left about an hour after she read Derek's card, and Casey had to admit, her mind was focused on Derek's words. She had eventually written it off as a misprint, as a mistake.

It was surprising to Derek, to see Sam at Casey's party. They had broken up a few months before, but apparently had remained friends. This still pissed Derek off, somehow, even though Sam wasn't drooling over Casey anymore, didn't mean there weren't feelings there. And it was the feelings he had hated. He had only recently found out why.

Casey walked up the stairs to Derek's room, quickly knocking on the door, before barging in. She froze when she saw Derek sitting in only his boxers on his bed. Her eyes traveled over his body once, before she spoke, embarrassed.

"Um…Can you…put on…pants?" She asked as she shut the door behind her. Derek quickly threw on a pair of black pajama pants and a white t-shirt. He opened the door to find Casey staring at the floor on the other side.

"It's alright, Case. I'm not naked." She blushed, but wondered at his tone. Why did he sound so sincerely kind? She just nodded and came into his room. "I'm taking this is about your birthday present.

"Yeah. Why the secrecy, Derek? The suspense is killing me, since I figured you'd give me a gag gift, but it wouldn't be a gag unless you gave it to me in front of Sam and Emily." He smiled, really smiled, up at her.

"Don't worry too much, it's not a gag. I'm really hoping you like it. When I first saw it, it reminded me of you." He went to his desk where a store-wrapped present sat. He handed it to her, motioning for her to sit on his bed. "Sit down and open it already!"

Casey complied with his wishes, trying hard not to glance up when his weight made the mattress slant. She put her hands on the triangle tabs of wrapping paper at the ends; gently tugging until they gave, then she couldn't control her eagerness, and ripped the rest of the paper away. She was amazed at the present staring up at her.

It was a carved wood box, inlaid with semi-precious gem stones and crystals. The box had two doves sitting facing each other, their eyes blue lace agate, and the carved triangle zigzag pattern around the lid was inlaid with vibrant swirling dark blue crystals.

"They reminded me of your eyes." Derek spoke softly as he ran his finger over the pattern. "Some are lapis lazuli and others are blue celestilite. The lady at the store said something about truth stone and good communications. Something new age, like that. I just thought it was nice. So, do you like it?"

All Casey could do was nod; she was too overwhelmed to speak for a moment.

"Derek, this is…amazing. I love it." She couldn't believe Derek, who had always made fun of her had gotten her something this wonderful.

"Open it up." He said, gently commanding. Her gasp of surprise was very loud as she pulled out a beautiful silver necklace, with a spiral pendant that had an emerald in the center.

"But Derek, you can definitely not afford this! It's very beautiful…but Derek, honestly, how much did it cost you?" He shook his head.

"It wasn't that expensive, Case. Besides, you needed it. It suits you."

"Derek…Thank you. I never thought that you would do this for me. You've made my birthday better, and it was a pretty good birthday to start with. Thanks." Casey began to give Derek an awkward hug, but was surprised when Derek pulled her into a real hug, gently stroking her back as he whispered into her hair.

"Tell me you know I never mean the things I say. Tell me that we can pretend to hate each other tomorrow. Tell me this is all it takes for you to see the truth." She pulled away suddenly.

"What are you talking about, Derek?" She asked softly.

"This." was his only words as he bent forward and captured her lips in a sweet but very passionate kiss. "You'll hate me tomorrow, Case, but at least you'll know I love you." He kissed her again before she could protest. After he kissed her the second time, he gently coaxed her out of his room, with a promise of, 'we'll talk tomorrow'.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Words: Story: 1,332, Total: 1,340

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The next morning came slowly for Casey. She had lain awake for several hours, tossing and turning, thinking about what Derek had said. '_Damn him_,' she thought, '_he's infuriatingly mysterious. And the way he said he loved me. Why the hell did he tell me he loves me? He must have been pulling a prank or something. Good one, Derek! Telling you step-sister you're in love with her_.' Her mind snapped to focus on the kiss. '_Why did he kiss me? More importantly…why did I like it? Well, screw him and his jokes_!'

The night crawled by just as slowly for Derek. Instead of lying in bed, like Casey, he was sitting in his computer desk, once again clad in only his boxers. He spun the chair around one way, then back the other way. He stared at a picture of a motorcycle on his wall as he turned on his iPod. Soon Bush's 'Cold Contagious' was blasting in his ears.

'_Why did I have to tell her? It's not like she loves me back or anything. I shouldn't love her, I really shouldn't, that's not the kind of guy I am_.' he thought to himself as the music pounded in his skull. '_She's beautiful, but so are a lot of girls. I mean, she's really the only one who presents a challenge, but I know I'd still want her if she gave in. She's just…different. I hated it when she was with Sam, and I'll hate it if she turns me down, which is very likely to happen_.' He sighed. '_I don't know what to do. I mean, what would Sam say? Emily? Our parents? That sounds so wrong! Her mom, My dad. We're only related through marriage. Our parent's marriage. Damnit to hell! I don't fucking need this!_' He sighed again, banging his fist against his desk, hitting the edge with his last knuckle, causing it to bleed.

"Damnit!" he swore out loud as he went to the bathroom to stop the flow of blood. After quickly rinsing his hand off, he put a band-aid on his knuckle and went back to his room. Crawling into bed, he soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

Casey was up before Derek, but was still up later than everyone else. She walked into the kitchen still dressed in her pajamas, and got her a bowl of cereal. She ate quickly then rinsed her bowl and spoon in the sink. She walked into the living room right as Derek was walking downstairs, wearing the pajama pants from the previous night, but no shirt.

He looked at Casey, then around the empty living room.

"Where is everyone?" He asked, groggily. Casey glanced at the floor then back up at him.

"Mom and George are in their room, watching T.V. with Marti. Lizzie and Edwin are in their rooms, or rather, Lizzie is in Edwin's room, their playing computer games." Derek yawned, stretching.

"Good. We need to talk. But first, I need to eat and take a shower. So, meet me down here in an hour."

"Why should I listen to you?" Casey was sure it was about his prank kisses last night, and really didn't want anymore embarrassment then was necessary.

"Because you're curious? Because not knowing is killing you? Because you might want to find out why?" She just sighed and shrugged.

"Fine. An hour. It'll give me time to shower why you eat." He smiled at her.

"That's my Casey, always reasonable." Derek said to her as he went to the kitchen.

An hour later, Casey sat in the still empty living room, waiting for Derek to come down from his shower.

He appeared, dressed in jeans with his hair still dripping wet. He shivered as he sat down beside her.

"What's with you?" She asked. He kind of glared at her, but was too busy shivering to do much.

"Water got cold, halfway through, I had just put shampoo in my hair too. So I had to rinse my hair with cold water." She gasped.

"No wonder you're freezing! Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" He shrugged. "Well, you need to get warm." She threw a blanket across his shoulders, snuggly tucking it around him.

"Thanks." He smiled at her. "So, you do care about me." It was her turn to shrug.

"It was my fault the water got cold…and you are my brother." He shook his head.

"I'm not your brother, I never have been. We don't share any DNA; your mom married my dad. That's the only way were connected. Hell, we didn't even know each other existed until a little over a year ago."

"But…" She paused. "But you kissed me! You told me you loved me." She groaned. "If this is one of your damn jokes, Derek…It's not fair of you to toy with me this way." He jumped of the couch and out from under the blanket she had wrapped around him.

"Who said I was toying with you? Maybe I really am in love with you! Do you know I had to save for six months to buy you that necklace? That I couldn't sleep last night thinking about you, but that's nothing new. I don't sleep a lot of nights, thinking of you being right across the hall! Damnit to fucking hell, Case. I'm completely head over hills in love with you, and I've tried not to be, god knows I've tried. But every time I went out with another girl, I compared them to you. I couldn't kiss them without thinking about you! I couldn't think about them, because my mind, my heart, was with you. You think I wanted this? Hell no I didn't!" He quit yelling, his voice going deep, into an almost growl, "I love you Case, and you're the one toying with me. Dressing in that Babe Raider outfit…that almost did me in Case. Do you have any idea how fricken' beautiful you are? I know you don't love me, and I won't ask you too. I just wanted you to know…I love you."

She had sat there, speechless, through his entire tirade, not knowing what to say. Not knowing if what she felt in her heart was right, if the butterflies in her stomach were from fear or something more.

"Derek, please. Please sit down." He complied, head back, sighing. "Derek…last night, when you kissed me, I kissed you back…and I really liked it. You confuse me, Derek." She looked over at him. "How can you treat me like your enemy, say hurtful things, and then tell me you're in love with me? Are you crazy? Because I know you've driven me insane." She grabbed his hand, "I don't know what to feel, Derek, but I believe what you said. I know this is probably not the best of situations and…oh, to hell with it!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Words: Story: 870 Total: 949

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Casey leaned over and kissed him, not surprised when he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap to deepen the kiss. Still not surprised when his hand went to the nape of her neck, playing with her long hair. And as his lips trailed down her jaw line to gently suck on her neck, one of her hands was tangled in his own damp hair as the other trailed down his back. As he broke away to look into her eyes, his own brown ones had turned almost black with lust and love.

"You're definitely an expert." She said voice low and sultry.

"You know what this means, don't you Case?" He asked his own voice husky. She shook her head. "You're mine." He dipped his head to once again capture her lips, leaving his mark there.

They were too busy to notice the four gasps of surprise, two from the stairs and two more from the kitchen doorway. The only one not making noise was Marti, who was cuddled up in George's arms, asleep.

"Um…would you two care to explain?" Asked George from the doorway, causing Casey and Derek to jump apart. Derek looked Casey in the eyes, seeking approval.

"I'm…well, I'm in love with Casey, you see, and Casey…well, I don't really know how Casey feels, but I'm pretty sure she feels something for me, too." He turned to look at her, "Um, Case, would you like to say something?" She nodded and stood up.

"Yeah…this seems to be an awkward silence, so I might as well speak up." She looked back at Derek, speaking more to him then the others. "I know Derek and I fight a lot, but the fighting is…is a cover, for what we really feel for each other. He and I have done a bit of talking, and it seems we've been fighting to push the other emotions away, and we just can't do it anymore. We're…I guess, what I'm trying to say is…I love Derek, and he loves me." She looked back to where George and Nora were standing. "We both tried to fight it, but when it happens, it happens, and you can't really control it. You guy's know exactly what I'm talking about, it happened to you, too."

Edwin and Lizzie decided this was the time to speak.

"So, does this mean you guy's are dating?" asked Edwin.

"As in boyfriend and girlfriend?" said Lizzie.

Casey turned around to face Derek. "I don't know. Are we? You never asked."

"Ok, Case, I get it." He walked until he was standing before her. "Casey MacDonald, will you take me, Derek Venturi, to be your boyfriend?" She nodded, running her hand across his chest.

"Nora! What do we do?" George asked.

"I don't know George. I don't know if there is anything we can do. In a little less than two years, Derek will be eighteen, and then Casey will be too, and we can't really stop them." Then she smiled, "And besides, look at them." She pointed to where Derek had Casey wrapped up in a hug, her head resting on his chest. "They love each other. Not in the sibling way, we had hoped, but you have to admit, it's going to be quieter around here without them fighting."

George sighed, "I guess I have to have the talk, _again_, with Derek."

A while later, Casey and Derek were hugging on the couch. The T.V. was on, but they weren't really watching it.

"So…" Casey had begun, "This seems weird, but it feels right. I don't know if we should tell anyone outside the family, like Emily…or Sam."

"I know. It's none of their damn business." He looked down at her. "You know, you never did tell me why you guys broke up." She pulled away from him, but only enough to where she could stare in his eyes.

"He was jealous…of you." She bit her lip. "He said all I could talk about was you, that you were his best friend, and that he knew a lot of stuff about you already." She laughed, "That, and he was a terrible kisser, don't tell him any of what I'm telling you, he's a nice guy. But he's a very bad kisser; he bumps teeth and drools on you. It's nasty." She leaned over to him. "You're much better." she whispered, her breath flittering against his lips before she kissed him...

"I can get used to the weirdness as long as you're kissing me." He smirked at her, "I should've bought you a present sooner. So, do you like the necklace?" She nodded, as she touched the pendant around her throat.

"I like it, I love you, what more could a girl ask for?" He smirked again.

"This." He kissed her again, before moving his head down to gently nip along her neck, sucking once he got to a place that would be covered by a t-shirt. "You're mine now, Case." He growled into her neck.

"That's fine, as long as you're mine, too." She gasped out. His only answer was to suck a little bit harder, leaving his mark upon her pale flesh.

'_Always_.' he thought, '_Always_.'

**A/N**: I have a little carved box, like the one in chapter two, but it's not as large or lavishly decorated, it doesn't have stones or crystals inlaid on it. But it does house my earrings (all 27 pairs, well, 26, since I'm wearing a pair now. I'm obsessed with earrings. I spend like 30-40$ a payday on them.) Anyways, I hope you liked my story, and as always, REVIEW. Thanks!


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